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Daily Readings For February 1

Please note that two distinct lectionaries are provided on this page: the two-year Daily Lectionary from the Book of Common Worship and the three-year Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) for Sundays and festivals; be sure you select the appropriate one.

Daily Readings Sunday/Festival Readings

Daily Readings for Wednesday, February 1, 2023


Morning Psalm 96

1   O sing to the LORD a new song;
          sing to the LORD, all the earth.
2   Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
          tell of his salvation from day to day.
3   Declare his glory among the nations,
          his marvelous works among all the peoples.
4   For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
          he is to be revered above all gods.
5   For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
          but the LORD made the heavens.
6   Honor and majesty are before him;
          strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7   Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
          ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
8   Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
          bring an offering, and come into his courts.
9   Worship the LORD in holy splendor;
          tremble before him, all the earth.


10  Say among the nations, “The LORD is king!
          The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
          He will judge the peoples with equity.”
11  Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
          let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
12       let the field exult, and everything in it.
     Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
13       before the LORD; for he is coming,
          for he is coming to judge the earth.
     He will judge the world with righteousness,
          and the peoples with his truth.

Morning Psalm 147:1-11

1   Praise the Lord!
          How good it is to sing praises to our God;
          for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.
2   The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
          he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3   He heals the brokenhearted,
          and binds up their wounds.
4   He determines the number of the stars;
          he gives to all of them their names.
5   Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
          his understanding is beyond measure.
6   The Lord lifts up the downtrodden;
          he casts the wicked to the ground.


7   Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
          make melody to our God on the lyre.
8   He covers the heavens with clouds,
          prepares rain for the earth,
          makes grass grow on the hills.
9   He gives to the animals their food,
          and to the young ravens when they cry.
10  His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
          nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;
11  but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
          in those who hope in his steadfast love.

First Reading Isaiah 52:13-53:12

52:13  See, my servant shall prosper;
          he shall be exalted and lifted up,
          and shall be very high.
14  Just as there were many who were astonished at him
          — so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,
          and his form beyond that of mortals —
15  so he shall startle many nations;
          kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
     for that which had not been told them they shall see,
          and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.

53:1  Who has believed what we have heard?
          And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2   For he grew up before him like a young plant,
          and like a root out of dry ground;
     he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
          nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3   He was despised and rejected by others;
          a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
     and as one from whom others hide their faces
          he was despised, and we held him of no account.

4   Surely he has borne our infirmities
          and carried our diseases;
     yet we accounted him stricken,
          struck down by God, and afflicted.
5   But he was wounded for our transgressions,
          crushed for our iniquities;
     upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
          and by his bruises we are healed.
6   All we like sheep have gone astray;
          we have all turned to our own way,
     and the LORD has laid on him
          the iniquity of us all.

7   He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
          yet he did not open his mouth;
     like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
          and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
          so he did not open his mouth.
8   By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
          Who could have imagined his future?
     For he was cut off from the land of the living,
          stricken for the transgression of my people.
9   They made his grave with the wicked
          and his tomb with the rich,
     although he had done no violence,
          and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10  Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain.
     When you make his life an offering for sin,
          he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;
     through him the will of the LORD shall prosper.
11       Out of his anguish he shall see light;
     he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
          The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
          and he shall bear their iniquities.
12  Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
          and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
     because he poured out himself to death,
          and was numbered with the transgressors;
     yet he bore the sin of many,
          and made intercession for the transgressors.

Second Reading Galatians 4:21-31

21Tell me, you who desire to be subject to the law, will you not listen to the law? 22For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and the other by a free woman. 23One, the child of the slave, was born according to the flesh; the other, the child of the free woman, was born through the promise. 24Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One woman, in fact, is Hagar, from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery. 25Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26But the other woman corresponds to the Jerusalem above; she is free, and she is our mother. 27For it is written,
     “Rejoice, you childless one, you who bear no children,
          burst into song and shout, you who endure no birthpangs;
     for the children of the desolate woman are more numerous
          than the children of the one who is married.”
28Now you, my friends, are children of the promise, like Isaac. 29But just as at that time the child who was born according to the flesh persecuted the child who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. 30But what does the scripture say? “Drive out the slave and her child; for the child of the slave will not share the inheritance with the child of the free woman.” 31So then, friends, we are children, not of the slave but of the free woman.

Gospel Reading Mark 8:11-26

11The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. 12And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side.

14Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out — beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” 16They said to one another, “It is because we have no bread.” 17And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember? 19When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” They said to him, “Twelve.“ 20“And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 21Then he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

22They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. 23He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Can you see anything?” 24And the man looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.” 25Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26Then he sent him away to his home, saying, “Do not even go into the village.”

Evening Psalm 132

1   O LORD, remember in David’s favor
          all the hardships he endured;
2   how he swore to the LORD
          and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,
3   “I will not enter my house
          or get into my bed;
4   I will not give sleep to my eyes
          or slumber to my eyelids,
5   until I find a place for the LORD,
          a dwelling-place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”


6   We heard of it in Ephrathah;
          we found it in the fields of Jaar.
7   “Let us go to his dwelling place;
          let us worship at his footstool.”

8   Rise up, O LORD, and go to your resting place,
          you and the ark of your might.
9   Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,
          and let your faithful shout for joy.
10  For your servant David’s sake
          do not turn away the face of your anointed one.


11  The LORD swore to David a sure oath
          from which he will not turn back:
     “One of the sons of your body
          I will set on your throne.
12  If your sons keep my covenant
          and my decrees that I shall teach them,
     their sons also, forevermore,
          shall sit on your throne.”


13  For the LORD has chosen Zion;
          he has desired it for his habitation:
14  “This is my resting place forever;
          here I will reside, for I have desired it.
15  I will abundantly bless its provisions;
          I will satisfy its poor with bread.
16  Its priests I will clothe with salvation,
          and its faithful will shout for joy.
17  There I will cause a horn to sprout up for David;
          I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.
18  His enemies I will clothe with disgrace,
          but on him, his crown will gleam.”

Evening Psalm 134

1   Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD,
          who stand by night in the house of the LORD!
2   Lift up your hands to the holy place,
          and bless the LORD.


3   May the LORD, maker of heaven and earth,
          bless you from Zion.